The layout is fairly standard my climate is the same as any of your New England states (Nova Scotia Canada). How do you adequately pinpoint how big a heat pump you need? Home built to NJ PSE&G energy efficient compliant for the 1996 year, R-19 walls, R-30 attic, plus low-E windows. This rule of thumb comes very useful when you want to adequately determine the size of the heat pump you need. For a 1,500 sq ft home, you would need about 45,000 BTU heat pump. If I have a 1300 square foot upper unit of a townhouse. Hope this helps. Hot Climate: 40,000 BTU (3.5 Ton Heat Pump), Warm Climate: 33,000 BTU (3 Ton Heat Pump), Cool Climate: 28,000 BTU (2.5 Ton Heat Pump), Hot Climate: 52,000 BTU (4.5 Ton Heat Pump), Warm Climate: 44,000 BTU (4 Ton Heat Pump), Cool Climate: 38,000 BTU (3.5 Ton Heat Pump), Hot Climate: 65,000 BTU (5.5 Ton Heat Pump), Warm Climate: 55,000 BTU (5 Ton Heat Pump), Cool Climate: 48,000 BTU (4 Ton Heat Pump). (Serial Number), Carrier HVAC Age: How To Tell AC Or Furnace Age? i am looking at mini splits heat pumps. I am saying all this to give an example of what is possible for our existing cold climate homes, which will need to be electrified in the next few years.. My recommendation, as someone who has been designing highly energy efficient homes since the 1970s, is to size your heat pump for efficiency and economy, not for meeting the local 99% design temperature. Lets break that down: Efficiently: Only a heat pump of the right size is most efficient. For 1 sq ft, you would need 30 BTU of heating/cooling output. We can use inexpensive electric resistance heaters to increase output during those few hours of the year. We always use the space to be heated/cooled (amount of air). For exact measurements, you have two options that will work well enough. The new AC will probably have a SEER rating of 20 or more and an HSPF rating of about 10. That will likely save you about 40% of AC and heating costs. Usually, if you have 2 separate spaces, you would need a 2-zone mini split because the airflow from just 1 air handler cannot adequately propagate (along with the warm air) to the other room. Based on the heating output of that heating source and the size of your home, the Daikin installer will try to choose the most optimum heat pump size. I am planning to use concrete filled ICF forms that have R22 rated and have 2400 sq ft main floor and 1200 sq ft daylight basement (one side only), with 9.5 ft ceilings, in zone 4. Hope this helps a bit. 4 Coil Defrost Options (Ice Thawing), How To Tell If AC Is Frozen? Hope this insight helps. The better insulation, the lower the BTU requirements. It also makes them a lot noisier. (Or How Much Is Left? (Living room / dining room 625 SF, a master bedroom 234 SF and 2 smaller bedrooms 1bout 140 sf each.). We also have a small glass front woodburner where we occasionally burn wood scraps and junk mail ;O) It not only can add warmth to the house if needed, but also serves as a pre-heater for the air that is feeding our heat pump water heater. (Dos/Donts), Convert HSPF To COP: Calculating COP From HSPF Rating (Heat Pumps). (std. Use the warmer Zone. Currently has a 5-ton AC and 125,000 gas-furnace 90%+ which were installed in 1996 and need replacement. > Use these Heat Pump Sizing Tables to check your results compared with the most common results readers get. These 8 rules were meticulously put together by Air Conditioning Contractors of America and its a standard part of Manual J. Dont be taken aback by the complexity of everything you need to check to size a heat pump; even HVAC experts who have been in the field for 10+ years use certain simplifications. Ceilings are 8 ft. not conditioning closets, bathrooms, hallways, vestibules, etc. You can still leave your old gas furnace in place, for if it is ever needed. Thats 1,500 square feet. (2 Reasons), Heat Pump Efficiency Vs Temperature Graph (COP At 0F To 60F), Best Heat Pumps For Cold Climates In 2022 (Down To -22F), AC SEER Vs Tonnage: Why Are We Still Mixing Them Together? We are going to simplify how to calculate what size heat pump do you need. Always remember that for adequate sizing, you would need an HVAC expert that does the on-site sizing. (Explained), Goodman AC Age: How To Tell How Old Goodman AC Is? What Size Heat Pump Do I Need for 2000 Square Foot Home? Any help calculating here would be great. This is primarily a mini-split heat pump size calculator but can be used to roughly estimate the size of ground-source or even water-source heat pumps. Mitsubishi and Gree make great heat pumps, for example, with a 20+ SEER rating (very energy efficient). I am concerned with the suggested size. 30 BTU of heating output per 1 sq ft of living space. It really helps other visitors to estimate the cost of a new HVAC unit. 3 Tell-Tale Signs (Ice On Evaporator Coils), Can You Put A Window Air Conditioner In Sideways? What Size Heat Pump Do I Need for 2500 Square FootHouse? (Out Of Vents Temperature), How Much Does It Cost To Run A Mini Split? We can use this simple rule to create the Heat Pump Size Calculator: Another key parameter is the ceiling height. It is likely that you will be able to heat the cabin and loft with a 3-ton mini split as well (36,000 BTU). We recommend using Zone 3 for that area. Is it still 30btu per square foot when you pair it with your furnace? We have talked about the R-value of insulating materials here. air), Latent Heat (BTU/hr) = 0.69 x CFM x gr. What Temperature To Set Air Conditioner In Summer: 72, 75, 78F? The size upgrade for such a home makes more sense. Too big or too small, and energy will be wasted, and your electric costs will be too high. Perfect for heat pump installation. (Example 1), What Size Heat Pump Do I Need For A 1,500 Square Foot House? If you want to be sure your indoor climate will be comfortable all year, then choose a heat pump size near the upper end of the range. Note: Do keep in mind that these are only rough estimations that can help you get a feeling of what size heat pump you require. How Long Does It Take To Thaw A Frozen Air Conditioner? Our very high efficiency, low-temperature (-22F) mini-split puts out its rated 12000BTUs at 5F and the vast majority of the winter it far exceeds that capacity. The trouble comes at extremely low temperatures (coefficient of performance (COP) for heat pumps can fall from 3.0 to less than 1.0). Here are your options with a description of each. Also, which brand would you recommend for the best efficiency? The 180k BTU numbers do seem a bit excessive. (NEC CODE), kWh To Ah Conversion (Calculator: Input kWh And V, Get Ah or mAh), 5 Most Energy Efficient Electric Space Heaters In 2022 (With ECO Modes), 5 Best Ventless Propane Heaters In 2022 (Vent-Free Heaters), read more about MrCool DIY heat pumps here, best air source heat pumps for cold weather here, Air Handler Leaking Water On Floor? But, the areas I am looking to heat cool is 1,142 sf. Sun helps in winter and hurts in summer. Hathaspace Smart True HEPA Air Purifier Reviews, 4+6 Best Whole-House Dehumidifiers In 2022 (Ducted, Portable), 4 Quietest Dehumidifiers (Best Bedroom Dehumidifiers): 52.1 dB Or Lower, How HVAC Experts Calculate Heat Pump Size (Using Manual J), How To Approach Heat Pump Sizing On Your Own? Thats why, in cold climates, a furnace backup still makes sense. As far as the brand is concerned, it might be best to ask a Home Depot representative. The Daikin installers first suggestion was 12,000 BTU and then he/she reevaluated the sizing and came up with 15,000 BTU? For an in-depth sizing that figures in location, insulation and so on, HVAC experts use Manual J calculation. Thanks. I live in ohio and have a 1998 1,700 sqf manufactured home with 9 foot cielings. Hello Learnmatics, Zone 7? The most exact way to estimate the tonnage, however, is exactly as you did; if the neighbor has the same size home and a 4-ton unit is sufficient, go for that. I have a Daikin contractor sizing my home of 1400+ sq. So, our total energy cost, for everything, including all the charging of our modest electric car, comes to significantly less than $1000/yr. My home has alot of windows and a slideing glass door. I suppose we could even open our electric oven door if we really wanted to double our heating capacity (which we never do). Variable Speed, What is Auxiliary Heat? If you convert that into kW, thats a 22 kW heat pump. Once you determine that, you can check out our article about the best mini-split heat pumps currently on the market here. You know all this, and thats why youre here at the Pick HVAC Heat Pump Size Calculator. The advantage the loft and cabin are open to each other offers you is this: You can use a 1-zone mini split for the whole place. Ive already installed an electric heat pump water heater and Im very happy with the savings so far. Great in the summer too. And you want a heat pump that will keep your home comfortable on the most extreme temperature days. However, at some point we are going to add 500sq ft with a garage/basement conversion and another 300sq ft kitchen addition, but well be converting from gas before we do that. For example, a room 24 feet long and 15 feet wide is 360 square feet. New AC and furnace doesnt have that advantage; the cooling costs will be the same as with the dual system but the heating costs with separate AC and furnace will be much higher. In your case, you can just pick 1 big mini split, something like this MrCool 36k unit that you can DIY installation. Average:Your home is vintage 1990 to 2010, and not much has been done to make it more energy efficient. How do I calculate what size heat pump do I need? See ourCentral Air Conditioner Guidefor full details on your options, sizing and cost. There is just too much heat to move. So I calculate we need a heating system to provide up to 100k BTUs of heat per day and up to maybe 180k BTU after our remodel. If you also want AC, add the equipment needed the condensing unit outside and the indoor coil plus refrigerant lines, etc. We are extensively remodeling our house, but have not yet done most of the insulation upgrades. My home is a standard ranch style home with three bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms din/kit. So, total sq ft including the loft is about 750 sq ft, but the loft and the bottom level (450 Sq ft) are open to each other. Here are the 8 rules or factors from Manual J that HVAC experts should follow when sizing a heat pump: Now, its rather complex to determine the effect of all of these factors. Measure the length x width of each. Sizing a heat pump seems like a daunting task. Note: In Zones 6 and 7, the coldest zones, a system with an efficient gas furnace and small central air conditioner is also a good option. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2014-2022, PICKHVAC All Rights Reserved. A single 60,000 BTU (5 ton) central heat pump or 48,000 BTU (4 ton)mini split heat pumpdoesnt have enough capacity to do the job in summer. For you to get a feeling of how many BTU heat pump you should be considering, you can use the simple 30 BTU per 1 sq ft rule to estimate the size of the heat pump for a 2,500 sq ft home. and liv. For every sq ft of living space, you need about 30 BTU of heating output. In your case, you are not looking at 2,000 sw ft; you are looking at those 1,142 sq ft. You now have a known square footage and 8 ft ceiling height, thats great. I dont want to oversize it, but also dont want to find weve installed something that doesnt meet future needs. We can confirm this manual calculation using the mini-split heat pump sizing calculator: As you can see, the heat pump BTU calculator produces the same result: 45,000 BTU. Our current gas furnace is 20+ year old, 80,000BTU, 80% efficiency, and vastly oversized (previous owner put it in but didnt insulate we added insulation and halved gas usage). If you have higher ceilings, you will need a more powerful heat pump, and vice versa. square footage): You can see for the heat pump size table that, for example, a 2,000 sq ft house requires around 60,000 BTU or a 5-ton heat pump. Lets boil these 8 factors down into 1 simple rule of thumb: Some of the factors in Manual J cancel each other out. Is a large heat pump an option in this sized building? Properly sized mini-splits (meaning not too big) do an excellent job of warming not blasting, and moving air almost continually, but they still are not capable of bringing heat down from upstairs, and cool air up from downstairs. Lets look at how HVAC experts size a heat pump: Every HVAC expert calculates what size heat pump you need using the same set of principles. We usually have the heat on for six months in the year, and from our gas bill I estimate current we use about 30-35 Therms/month of gas for heating in December and January, and 120 Therms total for the year. Heat Pump Size (2,500 sq ft) = 2,500 sq ft * 30 BTU per sq ft = 75,000 BTU. Hello Patrick, those R-23 and R-29 insulations are very useful and will decrease the heating output you need to warm your home. This will NEVER affect our opinion of a product or service! air). (Per Month Calculator), Evaporative Cooler Chart (Humidity, Efficiency, Temperature Swamp Coolers), To demonstrate how Heat Pump Size Calculator works, well. Hello Wes, replacing a furnace with a heat pump is generally a good idea, if the winter temperatures are not extremely low. 2700 sq ft home, 9 feet ceiling downstairs in kitchen, living room, and dining room, cathedral ceiling family room 1425, with vaulted foyer 1616, 2stories. Do you have a primary heating source? Ill of course go through a professional, but Im trying to estimate roughly what size Id need so that Im going into the process with a ballpark estimate. That means, for example, that for a 1,000 sq ft home, you would require a 30,000 BTU heat pump (thats a 2.5-ton heat pump). If its a two-story with that footprint, double the calculation to 3,000 square feet. Hello Paul, very smart to get at least a sense of how many BTUs/tons you need before the HVAC professional arrives. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. (Example 2), EPAs rule of thumb for sizing air conditioners, our article about the best mini-split heat pumps currently on the market here, vetted HVAC experts in your area using this form here, Understanding EER: Energy Efficiency Rating For AC Explained, Amp-Hours To Watt-Hours (Ah To Wh): Calculator + Chart, Convert Watts To BTU: Calculator + Conversion Chart (1 W = 3.412 BTU), Wire Size For 60 Amp Breaker: Which AWG Wire To Use? Laren Corie Hope this helps. These 8 rules include all the main and secondary factors when it comes to sizing any heat pump. Well, you should call an HVAC expert, and he or she will use the 8 factors in Manual J to calculate the required size of the heat pump. Even if you would be living in Canada, that would be too much. Our house is 1100sq foot, in the Bay Area, mild climate, 1950s build, recently fairly well insulated but not nearly as well as new construction could be. My home is approximately 2,000 sf. Consider a six-sided home. You can simply convert that into: Note how to make the estimate even more precise: If you live in the cold north (Canada, Illinois, Minnesota), it makes sense to add up to 40% to the total output heat pump capacity calculated by the Heat Pump Size Calculator. For example: 50 feet long x 30 feet wide = 1,500 square feet. ), How Much Electricity (kWh) Do Air Conditioners Use? I hope this has shed some additional light on the differences between sizing mini-splits and furnaces. Renewable Energy Educator (Central, Mini Split). Nonetheless, the lower heating costs will pay for the extra costs of the system. If youre more familiar with heat pump sizing by the ton, this Heat Pump Sizing Chart will help. and Designer of Passive Solar Now, you do have higher than average ceiling height on the main floor; this, and the fact that this is Nova Scotia were talking about, you might be looking for an 8 ton or even 10-ton unit. If the oversized furnace is affecting efficiency by much, it might even be lower. It is still at about a 1980s minimum insulation standard. The details of home size are the same as what we say on our Gas Furnace Size Calculator page. If the layout allows, it would be better to use one 9,000 BTU unit for both smaller bedroom. Windows and doors are drafty, and some rooms are colder than the rest of the house in winter and hotter in summer. Im looking to get a mini spilt ductless heat pump for a 450 sq ft foot print cabin with a 300 sq ft loft and the cabin is open beam construction ceiling at about 16 feet. How many ton heat pump (or BTUs) you need for 2,500 sq ft? Hello Michael, your calculations are on point. It roughly incorporates the averages from the rules found in Manual J. See the climate zone map above to find your home's climate zone, Checking Your Results Sample Heat Pump Sizing Tables, Detailed Heat Pump Sizing Chart by Square Footage, What Size Heat Pump Do I Need (Calculator), Single Stage vs. Two Stage vs. Lets solve two examples to illustrate how you can calculate what size heat pump you need manually and via the calculator: Lets say you have a bigger 2,500 sq ft home and you want to buy a heat pump for it. The heat pump size calculator outputs the resulting size of a heat pump in BTUs (British Thermal Units). However, when you figure out all the other factors, including insulation and so on, you will likely see a lower tonnage requirement. They will provide free estimates at no cost or obligation to you. Locate your climate zone on the map above and provide your square footage and we'll determine how many BTUs your heat pump should have. An HVAC expert on-site will determine the size of the mini-split heat pump exactly but we can estimate what the result will be by applying the 30 BTU per sq ft rule of thumb and manually calculating what size heat pump you need for a 1,500 sq ft home. In this example, we have a 1,500 sq ft home and would like to buy a mini-split heat pump for it. We may or may not be compensated for purchased you make as a result of our recommendation. Now, the HVAC professional will take into account the installation R-values. Considering all the factors, we can roughly boil them down into a single rule of thumb. (Carrier Serial Number), 3 Easy Ways How To Tell If Ceiling Fan Capacitor Is Bad (Symptoms), How Many Gallons Are In A 40 lb Propane Tank? Rene has worked 10 years in the HVAC field and now is the Senior Comfort Specialist for PICKHVAC. We rely on readers like you to share your HVAC system cost or quote. Hope this helps. Hello Mike, the new constructions with superb installation can have an extraordinarily low BTU per sq ft requirements. since 1975 (retired to finally live It is a measure of energy efficiency. Instead, install an efficient gas furnace. Hope this helps a bit. In short, for a 2,500 sq ft home, you would require a 6.25-ton heat pump. About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy| Cookie Policy| Terms of Use| Do Not Sell My Info. Of course, a dual heat pump and furnace can cost more and, given your current setup, it will be costlier to install them. Good:Your home is fairly new, or it has been updated with house wrap, increased insulation in the attic and/or new energy efficient doors and windows. Our town houses have bungalows under them as well.